Chapter 353: Yuan Lang's Little Secret

The females looked at her with disdain: "Yue, boiled eggs are so delicious, why kill the chickens to eat meat? You're really wasteful."

Wu Yue: "…"

By the way, is treating me like this really good?

Am I not doing this for your own good?

"Chickens also have males and females; in a group there can't be too many roosters, otherwise they'll fight every day.

"There are only two roosters in my flock right now."

All the females, upon hearing this, nodded in unison: "Oh, that's how it is."

"So when you just said killing and eating meat, you meant the roosters, right?"

Wu Yue nodded: "Yeah, when we caught them we definitely caught them all; once we fatten them up, we'll kill and eat them—chicken meat is really delicious."

As she said that, she involuntarily swallowed her saliva.

The females also felt as if a craving worm was burrowing in their stomachs; they hated not being able to go right now to Wu Yue's chicken pen to catch a rooster and kill it for meat.

"If anyone wants to raise chickens, you can come ask me anytime, or ask the slave who helps me raise them."

The females found it acceptable to ask Wu Yue, but asking the slave would be awkward—after all, the slave is just a lowly servant.

"By the way, Yue, all the chickens just left the pen, but one chicken is lying still in the grass nest—is it sick?"

Wu Yue, a bit dazed, touched her head: "There's still a chicken that didn't go out?"

The females looked at her with a hint of speechlessness: "What the hell are you thinking?"

Wu Yue gave a dry laugh, waved to summon the slave cleaning the chicken pen nearby: "Grandma said there's still a chicken in the pen that hasn't come out—is it sick?"

"If it's sick, we need to treat it; otherwise it could spread to the others."

Upon hearing that, the slave's dark face broke into a big smile: "That hen is hatching chicks."

Wu Yue slapped her forehead—she had actually forgotten such an important matter.

"Some of these eggs can hatch into chicks, so we can get more chickens."

After showing the females around her small breeding grounds, Wu Yue finally let out a big sigh of relief.

Flower Tree Grandma plopped down beside her: "There's a trade fair in autumn; Yue, is there anything you'd like to exchange?"

Wu Yue blinked: "A trade fair? Is it the Polar Forest trade fair?"

Flower Tree Grandma nodded: "Because our tribes occupy different territories, we need different things; the trade fair was jointly initiated by the four major tribes.

Everyone brings out their tribe's finest goods to display their tribe's strength."

"Only the major tribes?"

Flower Tree Grandma shook her head: "There are also many medium and small tribes, but they're all located near the trade fair's site.

Medium and small tribes are weak; making it through the forest to get here, they don't even know if they can make it back."

At noon, Flower Tree Grandma had just mentioned the trade fair; in the afternoon Wu Yue was summoned by the shaman.

"Do you know about the trade fair?"

Wu Yue blinked at the words, then nodded: "I know—Flower Tree Grandma just told me."

Xuehu Wu nodded: "At the trade fair, there are three important things.

"First, we must bring items selected from the tribe that can demonstrate our tribe's strong combat power.

"The second concerns salt."

"Salt?"

Wu Yue looked up at Xuehu Wu: "Could there still be salt trading at the trade fair?"

"This salt is taken out by our three tribes to distribute to the surrounding tribes.

"But they need to exchange it for food or animal hides.

"The last matter…"

He looked at the shaman: "Because we still need to go exchange salt, we have to hand over crystal cores to the major tribes along the salt‑exchange route.

"Then they'll send people to collect the crystal cores; this year they're demanding ever more of them.

"Moreover, among the tribes coming to collect the crystal cores are the Scorpion Tribe's beastfolk, though it's uncertain whether that Poison Shaman will come as well."

Upon hearing the shaman mention that Poison Shaman, Wu Yue's brows furrowed.

She really didn't want to deal with those bugs, and secretly felt glad she'd gotten on good terms with Tongzi—if she ever ran into that Poison Shaman, she'd definitely have to guard against a sneak attack from that guy.

If that guy caught her and fed her to the worms, just thinking about it made Wu Yue feel awful all over.

But then she suddenly thought of something, looking at the shaman opposite her: "What you mean is…"

The shaman gave a wry smile: "This year's trade fair will be held in our tribe."

Wu Yue blinked, her face falling: "And you're letting outsiders come to our tribe?"

Xuehu Wu looked at her: "In autumn the fruits ripen and the game is fat; everyone will come then to trade, after which they'll return to hunt and stock up on food, building fat reserves."

"Stockpiling fat…"

"That's to increase the chances of surviving the winter, right?"

"She also didn't know how many batches of taro she could grow, since she had no idea how long taro takes to mature."

"But if she asked Tongzi, this kind of question would still require purchasing with points."

"Shaman, what items are most popular among the tribes at the trade fair?"

Xuehu Wu smiled: "Naturally food and hides, but also some sharp bone daggers or fine ornaments are very popular."

Wu Yue nodded: "Then what do everyone use to trade?"

"Food or hides are used more often for exchange, but here you need to pay special attention to a tribe called Rock Salt."

"Rock Salt Tribe? That name sounds really strange."

"Just hearing that name… could it be that their tribe has a lot of salt?"

Shaman appreciatively glanced at her and said: "You guessed right, this rock salt tribe has a lot of salt, but they never trade their salt to tribes outside Chiyan Pingyuan."

"Only occasionally at trade fairs, when they see something they like, will they exchange salt for it."

Wu Yue pursed her lips: "Our tribe already has plenty of salt; if they trade salt, they certainly won't give us much—doing so would put us at a disadvantage."

Shaman laughed: "That's exactly what I wanted to say—the rock salt tribe, because they occupy the salt mines of Chiyan Pingyuan, acts in an overbearing manner."

"Whenever a tribe displeases them, they resort to violence to settle it, but because our four Polar Forest tribes are very united, they have never managed to gain an advantage over us."

Upon hearing the Shaman say those words, Wu Yue instantly felt a huge aversion to the four words "Chiyan Pingyuan": "What the hell is that? When you lot come, I'll show you what real badassery is."

After attending a basic popularization lecture at the Shaman's place, Wu Yue then listlessly walked out of the cave.

In the following days, the females started catching chickens in groups, and the tribe instantly became lively.

"Chickens flying and beasts leaping—nothing out of the ordinary."

'"Host, the iron pincer worm task from last time is still not completed!"'

Wu Yue, who had just lain down on her own stone bed, hearing this, her face stiffened: "Damn!"

"I had completely tossed this task to the back of my mind."

Immediately she put on a bitter face and muttered: "What should I do? I forgot about this task; the rainy season is already over—where am I supposed to find so many iron pincer worms to kill?"

Seeing the host's wretched expression, Tongzi also couldn't help but sigh: "We can only give up, huh."

Wu Yue bit the corner of her animal-skin blanket, looking pleadingly at Tongzi: "But I really want that backpack."

"Speaking of which, carrying that basket every day, there aren't many heavy items, and many things can't be brought along."

Tongzi pondered for a moment before saying: "The task shows the current kill count is 8,654, and the host also successfully treated those tribespeople caught by the iron pincer worms."

"So…"

Wu Yue: "…"

"My ears perked up—are you just going to show me this?"

Immediately after, a sound of a calculator being tapped rang out, and Tongzi's voice followed: "As long as you, host, make up another 150 points, besides the points you can still receive the other rewards."

Wu Yue quietly flexed her fingers; if she made up those 150 points, adding the task reward points, the loss would be too great.

"Heartbroken beyond measure."

'"Tongzi, are there any backpacks that aren't full sold in the system store?"'

Seeing the host's expression of anguish in heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, Tongzi's mouth twitched fiercely: "The host really is a stingy iron rooster."

He immediately obliged her wish, opening the system store; on the daily goods page, the several zeros after "backpack not full" completely extinguished Wu Yue's desire to buy.

'"Let's redeem it."'

"Damn it, I don't know if it's an illusion, but she always feels that what she possesses isn't some cheat, but a constantly hitting her scammy product."

Unintentionally hearing the host's inner thoughts, Tongzi staggered: "Host, I think that as a system for a lazy, picky host, it's already quite proper."

"But for Wu Yue, who just lost a huge amount of points, this sentence is nowhere near enough to compensate for her heartache."

'"Bang!"'

Unable to be bothered with this whimpering host any longer, Tongzi tossed the redeemed "not-full backpack" onto the stone bed and then went to sleep with his backside facing the host.

Looking at the forgiving-colored sling bag before her, Wu Yue instantly thought of the Scorpion Tribe's bunch of oily green.

She immediately reached out and grabbed Tongzi's hind leg: "Get up, I strongly request to change the color."

"Damn it, giving her a forgiving-colored backpack—what are they trying to express?"

Tongzi, half-asleep, lifted his head: "It's just a backpack, after all; color is just matching—if it's practical… I'm screwed!"

"Why this color?"

Wu Yue saw Lan Pangzi also looking bewildered, and speechlessly said: "This wasn't you who picked it, was it?"

Tongzi looked at Wu Yue with an expression as if saying, "You actually doubt my taste?" and said: "Am I really that lacking in taste, Tongzi?"

"Can we exchange it?"

Tongzi's voice a bit dry: "No returns or exchanges."

The two stared at that oily-green backpack, their faces somewhat at a loss for words…

"In the system's eyes, am I—beautiful, cute, kind, and clever—only worthy of carrying such a forgiving-colored satchel?"

"Every time the dog host utters a word from her mouth, Tongzi's chubby butt scoots back a bit; after Wu Yue finishes speaking and lifts her head to look, Tongzi already has a look of disdain, having scooted to the corner of the stone bed."

"He buries his round head in his two fat paws, pretending not to know her."

Wu Yue sneered: "You spend my points, sleep on my bed, and now you pretend not to know me—isn't that a bit late?"

Lan Pangzi's body trembled, he slowly lifted his head, his fluffy little face showing a fawning smile: "I'm just feeling a bit ashamed in the presence of such a beautiful, cute, kind, and clever host, hehe!"

Wu Yue nodded: "You just need to know that; to be worthy of such an excellent host like me, you also need to work hard."

Saying that, she solemnly patted Tongzi's round, chubby butt.

Afterwards, she hugged her forgiving-colored sling bag and lay down.

Left behind was Tongzi, his butt still aching to the point of numbness, holding a packet of tears, sitting in the corner whimpering: "Dog host, do you have to be so harsh?"

"The next morning, Wu Yue wrapped her forgiving-colored backpack in a layer of animal hide before she felt at ease taking it out of the cave."

'"Host, you're really too extravagant—people struggling on the subsistence line actually carry a grass‑skin bag."'

"Tongzi's complaints are never late."

Wu Yue involuntarily shivered: "Tongzi, you're so cold!"

Tongzi: "..."

"Can it easily liven up the atmosphere early in the morning?"

At that moment, Yuan Lang, who had just finished training and returned to the cave, eyed some yellow granules on the ground dubiously and murmured: "When we dug the cave, I don't think there was this."

"Having said that, he instantly felt a wave of gooseflesh spread over his body."

"He walked straight out of the cave, and after a moment returned holding a torch, having baked every corner of the cave, only then feeling relieved."

Immediately, as if thinking of something, he turned and came to Wu Yue's cave entrance: "Yue, are you up?"

Wu Yue was chatting away with Tongzi, and upon hearing Yuan Lang's voice she slapped Tongzi's chubby butt hard, then happily walked toward the cave entrance: "I'm here, what's up?"

Yuan Lang frowned: "Are there any strange yellow granules in your cave?"

Wu Yue turned her head dubiously and surveyed her own cave: "There aren't any strange yellow granules."

"Many strange yellow granules have appeared on the floor of my cave; I'm quite sure I didn't see any when I dug the cave before."

Wu Yue pointed at the torch in his hand: "So you just roasted the cave with the torch?"

She looked somewhat amused at the tall, handsome beastman warrior before her: "Are you afraid of bugs?"

Yuan Lang's body stiffened at the words, his dark brows shot up, and a flash of embarrassment clearly crossed his eyes: "I... I was just joking... cough!"

Seeming to notice his reaction was a bit over the top, he quickly coughed and said: "I was just trying to prevent that poison shaman from using poison insects again."

Since you don't have those yellow granules here, I'll be on my way.

Come on, he's a grand general of a nation—how could he possibly be afraid of something as trivial as bugs!

Hehe, if one comes I'll crush it, if a group comes...

His tall frame shuddered, and he thought better of dealing with a group...

Wu Yue hehehed with a mischievous smile as she saw off the somewhat embarrassed beastman warrior, then turned and walked back into the cave.

But the next moment, a crisp sound, as if something had been stepped on and shattered, came from under her feet.